Dodson Middle School in Rancho Palos Verdes is one of two middle schools that received WASC accreditation in southern area for LAUSD.
February 13, 2019. Photo By Chuck Bennett

Dodson Middle School in Rancho Palos Verdes is one of two middle schools that received WASC accreditation in southern area for LAUSD. The newly opened Dolphin Student Center is a room devoted to students during nutrition break and lunch where students can relax and play games. The center is staffed with a counselor.
February 13, 2019. Photo By Chuck Bennett

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Dodson Middle School in Rancho Palos Verdes is one of two middle schools that received WASC accreditation in southern area for LAUSD. Students rehearse for the spring musical “Newsies” in the theater on campus,
February 13, 2019. Photo By Chuck Bennett

Dodson Middle School in Rancho Palos Verdes is one of two middle schools that received WASC accreditation in southern area for LAUSD. Students on nutrician break Wednesday, February 13, 2019. Photo By Chuck Bennett

Dr. Adaina Brown is the principal at Stephen M. White Middle School, one of two middle schools that have earned WASC accreditation in LAUSD’s South District in Carson on Wednesday, February 13, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Dr. Adaina Brown, principal at Stephen M. White Middle School in Carson, talks to her students on Wednesday, February 13, 2019. Stephen M. White Middle School is one of two middle schools that have earned WASC accreditation in LAUSD’s South District.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Dr. Adaina Brown is the principal at Stephen M. White Middle School, one of two middle schools that have earned WASC accreditation in LAUSD’s South District in Carson on Wednesday, February 13, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Matthew Jimenez teaches English at Stephen M. White Middle School, one of two middle schools that have earned WASC accreditation in LAUSD’s South District, in Carson on Wednesday, February 13, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Iyari Ornelas, left, Gian Mediavillo, and Frankie Kuaea work on their robotics project at Stephen M. White Middle School, one of two middle schools that have earned WASC accreditation in LAUSD’s South District, in Carson on Wednesday, February 13, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Students work on a math tutorial project at Stephen M. White Middle School, one of two middle schools that have earned WASC accreditation in LAUSD’s South District, in Carson on Wednesday, February 13, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Students work on a math tutorial project at Stephen M. White Middle School, one of two middle schools that have earned WASC accreditation in LAUSD’s South District, in Carson on Wednesday, February 13, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Emily Jaime takes notes during a math tutorial project at Stephen M. White Middle School, one of two middle schools that have earned WASC accreditation in LAUSD’s South District, in Carson on Wednesday, February 13, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Students wear their “words” during PE at Stephen M. White Middle School, one of two middle schools that have earned WASC accreditation in LAUSD’s South District, in Carson on Wednesday, February 13, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Tammy Kim teaches 7th grade English at Stephen M. White Middle School, one of two middle schools that have earned WASC accreditation in LAUSD’s South District, in Carson on Wednesday, February 13, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Stephen M. White Middle School is one of two middle schools that have earned WASC accreditation in LAUSD’s South District in Carson on Wednesday, February 13, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Stephen M. White Middle School is one of two middle schools that have earned WASC accreditation in LAUSD’s South District in Carson on Wednesday, February 13, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Students walk between classes at Stephen M. White Middle School, one of two middle schools that have earned WASC accreditation in LAUSD’s South District in Carson, on Wednesday, February 13, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Six LAUSD middle schools, including Stephen M. White in Carson and Dodson in Rancho Palos Verdes, made the grade in the first round of the esteemed accreditation process that gives students a boost in their future academic careers.

All of the district’s high schools are accredited, which helps students looking to go to college.

But last year, the district launched an initiative to also get its middle schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Along with White and Dodson, the first round included Frost in Granada Hills; and Irving, Nightingale and Young Oak Kim Academy, all in Los Angeles.

“This is a big deal, it’s huge,” said Adaina Brown, principal of White Middle School. “It affirms that we are putting the instruction of our students first.”

The accreditation also helps as local public schools compete with private and charter campuses that often have achieved accreditation status.

“We want to make sure that this is a good community school and bring people back to their community schools,” Brown said. “You don’t have to go outside your community, we have it right here.”

Los Angeles Unified School District has seen declining enrollment in recent years as charter and other schools draw students away. The loss of students also means a loss of revenue for LAUSD schools, and the growing tension between the two education models surfaced as an issue in the recent six-day teachers’ strike.

Both White and Dodson middle schools have large enrollments — about 1,700 apiece — and already had strong reputations.

“It validates our program and what we do here at Dodson,” said the school’s new principal,` Diana Zarro Martinez.

The lengthy accreditation process includes school visits and involves teachers, administrators, students, parents and the community.

“It’s a good process for self-reflection for the schools,” said WASC President Barry Groves. “It tells the community that (a school has) met these standards that were set by a national accreditation organization.”

In the middle school setting, he said, it also helps establish a vertical alignment with the high schools in the area.

“Almost all charter schools are accredited because of the state requirements,” he added.

The LAUSD pilot middle schools were selected in 2016. The following year, a “lengthy, sometimes tedious process” was launched as the schools were evaluated and reviewed for accreditation, Brown said.

The focus on middle school is especially important, Brown said.

“For a long time, we’ve heard that middle school doesn’t really count,” she said.

The goal was perceived as socially promoting students during that transition period between the more high-profile elementary and high school educational programs.

“In middle school, we had to redefine what our focus was,” Brown, who attended Dodson as a student in the late 1980s, said of the accreditation process.

A major focus was on teacher collaboration and seeing classroom subjects as connected and overlapping with one another, Brown said. The school is the location of a science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics — also known as STEAM — magnet.

Martinez took the reins of Dodson after the accreditation process already had begun under former principal John Vladovic.

WASC staff visited the school several times.

“It was a beautiful crash course in the school and all its intricacies,” Martinez said. “The WASC team found we believed strongly in teacher preparation.

Dodson is also the site of gifted and highly gifted magnet schools. Its latest magnet is for the visual and performing arts.

Among the innovations that resulted from the process at Dodson was the establishment of the student Dolphin Center, where academic and other counselors are available during nutrition and lunch breaks to interact with students.

Brown said the outside assessments were also helpful at White.

“It was a good eye opener to have outsiders come look at our school and say, ‘You need to work on these things,’ or just giving reassurance that we’re doing a good job,” Brown said. “I think, too, the ‘Ah-ha’ moment for us was when they said we don’t brag enough about what we’re doing in the schools.”

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Donna Littlejohn has covered the Harbor Area as a reporter since 1981. Along with development, politics, coyotes, battleships and crime, she writes features that have spotlighted an array of topics, from an alligator on the loose in a city park to the modern-day cowboys who own the trails on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. She loves border collies and Aussie dogs, cats, early California Craftsman architecture and most surviving old stuff. She imagines the 1970s redevelopment sweep that leveled so much of San Pedro's historic waterfront district as very sad.